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Cosmetic Dental Procedures
Dentists today can do more than ever before to restore the health and beauty of the human smile. Advances in both cosmetic dental procedures and cosmetic dental technology now make it possible to repair almost any condition from which a patient suffers. Some conditions can be rectified with very basic treatments that are convenient and painless to experience. Other conditions may be more complex and require a very systematic process that involves the use of sophisticated technology and advanced surgical procedures. Cosmetic dental procedures are widely varied for this reason, because every case is different to some extent, and the individual needs of every patient require a special, personal touch to bring truly lasting results that exceed the expectations of the individual at the end of the day.
Cosmetic Dental Bonding is a very simple process that involves etching microscopic lines in the tooth enamel with a special solution, then layering a composite resin onto the tooth, where it adheres and hardens. Most patients who have had this treatment performed for chipped or discolored teeth have reported that it was the easiest and most painless cosmetic dental procedure they had ever experienced. This treatment can fill in cracks and pots, and it can either restore the original color of the tooth, or be used to whiten its appearance.
Teeth can lose their natural color for a variety of reasons. Caffeine and nicotine are among the top culprits that ruin the color of teeth. However many people who take excellent care to heat and drink healthy often experience tooth discoloration as well. Certain teas may be better for the body than coffee, but they can just as readily stain teeth. Also, many times when people are forced by medical need to take certain prescription drugs, their medications can ruin the color of their smile. There are two cosmetic dental procedures that can reverse this type of discoloration. One is cosmetic tooth whitening, and the other is the use of cosmetic dental veneers.
Teeth whitening may sound like an arduous, maybe even painful process to some. To opposite is true. Cosmetic Dentists use a special bleaching gel, a high intensity light, and a series of at home treatments to restore a gleaming, white translucence to natural tooth enamel. It normally only takes two office visits two weeks apart, plus twenty minutes of gel treatments at home every night. Results can last for 6 months to a few years, depending on how the patient alters his or her eating and drinking habits to better protect tooth color.
Sometimes, however, the stains are simply too severe for bleach to remove. It is better in these cases to use cosmetic porcelain veneers. Porcelain is extremely hard, and is characterized by a strangely translucent quality that is provides a remarkable mimic for natural tooth enamel. Veneers are stain resistant and usually last for many years. The use of veneers is also a preferred cosmetic dental procedure for the correction of minor tooth alignment problems and the chipping and pitting of teeth that often occurs over time.
Chipped teeth are one thing. A fragmented or severely cracked tooth is another. When a tooth is significantly damaged to the point that its basic function, or continued use, is threatened, then more aggressive cosmetic dental procedures have to be applied. For tooth that is broken or cracked, cosmetic dental crowns are the ideal way to restore both the appearance and the normal use of the tooth. Crowns are custom made from porcelain to look identical to natural teeth, and are sometimes used to repair teeth with failing amalgam fillings. Porcelain crowns can also be used in place of silver-mercury fillings if the tooth is in a state of severe decay. The dentist performs a root canal, removes all infection from the nerve chamber, and then caps the tooth with a cosmetic dental crown that works and looks just like the original tooth.
However, some patients do not come to the dentist until they have already lost teeth, or have teeth that are so far gone that the only recourse is to extract them. Believe it or not, there is a cosmetic dental procedure that can restore a natural smile even for these severe cases. This is the use of dental implants. Implants are far superior to the dentures of past years. They are made from titanium alloy roots that embed in the bone just like natural tooth roots. Once the bone accepts the root and grows around it, it is capped with a porcelain crown that creates an entirely new tooth—a perfect replica that people cannot tell from the original.
Cosmetic dental procedures like these are made possible by special training that dentists undertake to expand their skills beyond general dental work into advanced treatment options. New technology is continuing to open new doors of possibility, and paving the way for new cosmetic dental procedures to continually emerge in the near future.
Cosmetic implant dentistry is a specialized field that requires extensive knowledge and experience to be done correctly. The Medical Center Dental Group in Houston, Texas brings all of that and more to the direct benefit of each and every patient we treat. Although we are located in the world famous Houston Medical Center at Scurlock Towers, we routinely see dental patients who travel from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Beaumont and Midland Texas to see Dr. Dale Brant, Dr. Charles Campbell or Dr. Elizabeth O’Sullivan-Winslow for their cosmetic denistry services.
Make an appointment with the dentists at the Medical Center Dental Group. Give us a call at 888.790.0309, or or feel free to Ask the Dentist.
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